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Law Enforcement for Lawabiders

NCJ Number
219219
Author(s)
Tracey L. Meares
Date Published
January 2007
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper addresses the link between legitimacy and compliance in law enforcement, specifically, the control and reduction of crime through social control, implemented through the promotion and transmission of lawabiding norms; an idea called “law enforcement for lawabiders.”
Abstract
Referred to as the “normative conception of law enforcement,” this paper attempts to demonstrate that the normative conception of law enforcement offers a vision of law enforcement and policing that is vastly different from the popular, get-tough-on-crime approach. It also attempts to demonstrate the normative law enforcement alternative may be more effective in terms of both crime reduction and doing less harm to community structure. The normative conception of law enforcement means to contrast a conception of law enforcement with one that is instrumental. That is, people obey the law because they fear the consequences if they do not. Also, people obey the law because the articulated law happens to comport with their own moral schedule and people obey the law because they believe that government has the right to dictate to them proper behavior, known as legitimacy. Legitimacy is viewed as the basis for normative compliance. This paper addresses the link between legitimacy and compliance because it is clear that by addressing issues of legitimacy and accountability at a general level, outcomes can also be affected. References